Megan Rapinoe: It's "ridiculous" men's finals are scheduled same day as World Cup championship
The U.S. women's soccer team will have competition on Sunday when it goes for its fourth World Cup. Two other men's tournaments – the Copa América and Concacaf Gold Cup – will also be playing their final games on Sunday. Team USA's Megan Rapinoe called it a "ridiculous and disappointing" distraction.
The U.S. Men's National Team faces off against Mexico Sunday evening for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the men's title of North and Central America and the Caribbean, while Brazil and Peru will compete for the South America men's championship Sunday afternoon. CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani told The New York Times the decision to schedule the Gold Cup final for Sunday was due to a "clerical error." FIFA says having all three finals on the same day will draw more attention to the sport.
In any case, anticipation is building to see the world's top-ranked women's team taking on a relative newcomer on Sunday: the Netherlands. With 24 goals adding up to six victories, Team USA seems poised to play its way into World Cup history.
The U.S. Women's National Team edged past Spain, knocked out host nation France, and saved a penalty – breaking English hearts in the process. Team USA co-captain Alex Morgan stirred a bit of controversy when she pretended to sip tea while celebrating their win against England.
"Firstly, it wasn't a hit to England in any way ... there is some sort of double standard ... for females in sports where we have to be humble but not celebrate too much," Morgan said.
The Netherlands seem to realize what they're up against. This is only the second time the team has even made it to a World Cup.
"The Netherlands, they won the European Championship in 2017. It was a surprise at the time, but we've seen in this tournament that was no fluke," said USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour.
USWNT rookie midfielder Sam Mewis told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday, the team still has "a lot of work to do" to prepare.
"Netherlands is gonna be a great team," she said. "We have seen them play really well throughout this whole tournament and their team has just been growing and growing over the past couple of years."
If the U.S. wins on Sunday, it will join Germany as the only teams to win the tournament twice in a row.